The New To-Do List

Balancing life after divorce is not easy. Technically, I am not divorced yet…but I will be soon. However, pre separation I was a busy stay at home mom. The kids had activities and my ex worked six days a week on the road. I tried to fit my health and wealth in there somewhere. I woke up at the crack of dawn to spend time with God, but I always felt deflated at the end of the day. My days ran together and turned quickly into years and little felt accomplished over time.

Today, I work a great job that is very demanding. I still feel deflated at the end of a work day. So now that I have established a basic connection between the two scenarios…me. I was not good at managing my time. Doing too many things at one time and screaming that I need a clone of myself to complete a day. How do you solve a time management problem? Here are three steps…

Prioritize Who or What Can Wait…

Will that business luncheon or play date stop the world, if you cancel? Ask yourself a fundamental question when planning your day. What’s most important today? You will be surprised at the answer, when you honestly ask that question. Does it have to be done right now or today? Can you focus on what’s most important in your day and relish in the fact that you achieved that one goal for the day. Our badge of honor as women, is how much can we get done in one day. Then we wonder why we are so stressed.

Create A Schedule That Has Down Time…

Time is the most valuable asset and once you lose it…it’s gone. Make time for yourself. Schedule in your prayer time, exercise time, girlfriend time, pamper time and vacation time. No matter if you are a single or married, you need this time to recharge yourself. You will find yourself stressed with good down time. Most men are great at making time for the down time, women feel guilty about taking time for themselves. The world won’t fall apart if you take an hour to get a massage.

Don’t Beat Yourself Up…

So what if you don’t accomplish 50 million tasks in one day. The world will keep going and you won’t fail the test on womanhood. Focus on being in a place peace and you find that all things will get done in time. Be patient with yourself and your process. God took six days to create the universe and He rested on the 7th day. I doubt that He was like, I have so much more on my to-do list. Life is too short to create an endless list of things to do.

Learn to relax and enjoy each day as a gift, not a laundry list of chores. In fact, I challenge you to add something to your daily to-do list and actually go for it.